Ed Hardy: Jon Gosselin destroyed my clothing brand by wearing it

Jon Gosselin apparently isn't much of a trendsetter, if anything, his decision to wear a certain brand in public was a huge setback for the designer's line.

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The former Jon & Kate Plus 8 star and father of Kate Gosselin's eight children was spotted wearing multiple Ed Hardy T-shirts featuring Hardy's tattoo art in 2009, which ultimately tanked the brand because it became affiliated with the unpopular reality TV star.

"That Jon Gosselin thing was the nail in the coffin," Hardy toldThe New York Post. "That's what tanked it. Macy's used to have a huge window display with Ed Hardy, and it filtered down and that's why Macy's dropped the brand."

Christian Audigier -- who licensed Hardy's signature ink-stained art onto T-shirts and other products and had been interested in launching a children's clothing line with Gosselin -- is reportedly partly-responsible for dressing Gosselin in the brand. Audigier accompanied Gosselin on a trip to the Cannes in which Gosselin wore the T-shirts on a yacht and photos subsequently surfaced online.

"Christian worships celebrities so much, he will get next to anyone who is famous for anything," Hardy told the newspaper. "If he could have gotten Charles Manson in a shirt, he would have."

Ed Hardy, formally known as Donald Edward Talbott Hardy, is 68-years-old and said he knew he was "going to be a tattoo artist" at age nine.

(Photo credit TLC)

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